


Times Out

by RaeSone99



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-16
Updated: 2013-04-16
Packaged: 2017-12-08 15:44:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/763118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeSone99/pseuds/RaeSone99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The elevator moment at the end of season eight. Tony processing the death of Franks with Ziva, Abby, and McGee, but mostly Ziva.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Times Out

He knew.

The thing was he knew _exactly_ how her hair would feel if he ran his fingers over and through her glossy thick black curls. If he leant a little closer he could…Tony blinked and then shook his head for extra emphasis, trying to clear it. It was a game they played, physical and emotional chicken. Sometimes they cheated. After Mike Franks died her eyes asked a question and he felt his arms open up to her in response. She pressed into him and he wrapped his arms around her as much for his own reassurance as hers. She was here; solid, alive, breathing in his arms. More than that, with her head resting on his chest he felt whole: safe.  It was all he could do not to flip the elevator switch to prolong the moment. Instead he chose the second best option. “Hey,” he called softly.

She lifted her head up and matched her brown eyes with his green. And he couldn’t help the next thought, the next feeling that he was the one person in the world that she trusted, besides Gibbs of course, but that was different, to see her like this. The pride that _he_ was the one allowed to hold her being, all of her complexity, flaws, and strength. His heart stammered as he realized that she was holding him just as tightly. _Just this once_ he’d thought. During this rare time-out he allowed his hand to reach up and stroke the edges of her hair, the wisps that she kept slicked back to strip away the vulnerability they gave her. _You don’t fool me Ziva David._ He said something, and he knew she said something, but the words didn’t matter so much as the reality of him and her standing together; her hand running up and down his lower back, his thumb stroking her temple, their eyes hungrily memorizing, memorializing this moment, each other. He saw the exact moment her eyes dipped lower to his mouth and then back up again as if she had caught herself. He definitely felt the way her hand stilled as the elevator doors opened. A brief flash of wistfulness caught him but it was immediately quashed when she didn’t spring away from him when Abby and Tim saw them.

Keeping one arm firmly around her waist he opened up their private comfort circle to the other two. Ever aware of her reactions he noticed that she stepped back a bit slower than he expected. As the team bent their heads in memory of Franks he sighed inwardly, _Times-in_ If only he had hit the elevator switch when he had time. This wasn’t the first time he’d felt tired of pretending in an elevator, wasn’t the first time he’d felt it with her. He could feel the tension of being Tony DiNozzo seeping back into him, the barrier between him and Ziva solidifying once more…his hand spasmed at her back betraying his desperation to hold onto their closeness. He clenched it into a fist. In response he felt her hand resume tracing his lower back again in soothing circuits. He felt himself relax. He couldn’t help it. When it came down to it he was putty in this woman’s more than capable hands. After the fifth up and down his fingers uncrimped and he risked a glance at Ziva over the still bent heads of the other two and found her already watching him. In the language only they knew expectations flew, changed, and old walls crumbled. He quirked a smile at her and she blinked slowly at him, and then ended their silent communication by looking down. That’s when it really hit him. He sucked in a quick breath, thankful for the solid presence of the team around him. Yes. Mike Franks was dead. But they were still alive and they had each other. Together they would honor his memory by living more, taking more chances, and holding on even tighter. Finally, Tony closed his eyes and bent his head: Remembering Mike Franks.


End file.
